There was still some time before the launch, and Wu Hao couldn't let these two stay here, so he still had to accompany them to visit the base. Of course, this is also an important purpose or wish of Lao Ma and Xiao Ma's trip, how can Wu Hao, as the host, not be satisfied.

First of all, they went to the rocket launch site, which was still some time before the rocket launch, so it was not closed and cleared yet.

Therefore, before the closure was cleared, I took the two of them to visit the site. Once the launch site is closed, so idle people and others will no longer be able to enter, not even Wu Hao.

In addition to the base, the vehicle began to drive smoothly on a straight and wide asphalt road. In the distance, the figure of the rocket erected has already appeared in the eyes of everyone.

In the middle of this vast desert, tall rockets stand like this, which has to be said to be very shocking.

The closer you get, the larger the rocket's size becomes, and it even gives a sense of oppression. The height of more than 30 meters may not sound high, but the actual feeling is very shocking, especially when people stand at its feet and look up, the huge body can't help but be amazed.

The vehicle stopped in the open field in front of the launch site, and everyone stepped out of the car with a shocked face, and their eyes did not look at the rocket.

The staff on the side immediately gave them white hard hats, and everyone took them and brought them up.

"Mr. Wu!" I saw Zhou Xiangming come over with a few people.

"Xiang Ming, I'll bring two Mr. Ma over for a visit." As he spoke, Wu Hao smiled at Lao Ma and Xiao Ma and others, and introduced: "This is Zhou Xiangming, the deputy chief engineer of our entire project, and the recyclable launch vehicle in front of us is designed and developed by him." ”

"It's really young and promising." Lao Ma looked at the very young Zhou Xiangming in front of him and couldn't help but admire.

"Amazing!"

Hehe, Zhou Xiangming shook his head with a smile and said: "This is the result of the whole team's efforts, and Mr. Wu has also given us a lot of help." Otherwise, the project would not have progressed so quickly. ”

As for the little brother on the side, he kept looking at the rocket and asked with a smile: "Can you give us a general introduction to this rocket?" ”

"Of course, everybody, please." Saying that, Zhou Xiangming led everyone to the crowd, and introduced it with a smile at everyone.

"This is the second commercial launch vehicle developed by the Aerospace Science and Technology R&D Laboratory of Haoyu Technology Company, and it is also the first retractable commercial launch vehicle developed by ourselves.

The rocket has a total field of 36.8 meters, a diameter of 3.52 meters, and a take-off mass of 225.4 tons. The carrying capacity of low earth orbit can reach 4.2 tons, and the sun-synchronous orbit can reach 2.3 tons. This capability is basically enough to meet the orbital needs of most commercial satellites and some spacecraft.

This rocket consists of a total of two stages, a first-stage recoverable rocket and a two-stage rocket.

After the rocket is launched, the first stage section automatically falls off after sending the rocket to a certain height. The loft at the top of the first stage throws the guide wing first, followed by the three main wings. These main parachutes will reduce the speed of the rocket to a more appropriate range.

The grid plate and direction engine on the rocket will constantly control the direction of the rocket's descent, so as to ensure the accuracy of the landing point of the first-stage rocket.

When the rocket is about to land on the ground, the launch rack opens. Generally, this distance is between 200 meters and 100 meters, and the main engine of the rocket will ignite, so as to further slow down, let the rocket land smoothly, and complete the entire first-stage rocket recovery task.

As for the two-stage rocket, the rocket body is smaller, the cost is relatively small, and the recovery cost is high, the recovery is difficult, and it does not have the recovery value, so we generally let it fall at a fixed point.

For such a retractable launch vehicle, the first-stage rocket body part accounts for about 80 percent of the entire launch cost, and if it can be recovered, it will greatly reduce the launch cost.

According to our current offer, it is generally possible to pay for itself in two launches, and there is a profit. The design service life of the first-stage body part of our retractable rocket is five to eight times.

Of course, the number of firing will be extended or reduced according to the recovery status of the first-level rocket body. ”

Hearing Zhou Xiangming's introduction, everyone nodded, and they had a general understanding of this rocket. Although I have seen relevant materials before, it is far less impressive than the on-site explanation.

Brother Pony, who listened very carefully to the whole process, immediately asked: "Is this rocket reliable, and what advantages does it have over the Falcon rocket?" ”

Zhou Xiangming nodded when he heard this: "Of course it is reliable, the biggest condition for determining the quality of a launch vehicle is reliability."

If a launch vehicle is not reliable, then no matter how good it is in other aspects, it has no value.

So when we develop and manufacture rockets on social media, we put reliability first. In addition to the technology we borrowed from some international advanced and mature technologies, the technology on this retractable rocket also has a lot of our innovative design and technical applications.

For example, the fuel used in rockets is independently developed by us. At present, this new fuel blend has been approved by experts in the space sector, and has been partially used in some rockets to replace some toxic fuels.

The second is the rocket's flight control system, as well as a newly designed return method. We have designed an 'intelligent control brain' for this rocket, which can control the flight attitude control of the rocket and deal with some problems in the rocket launch process in real time.

Compared with the traditional passive solution, this kind of active problem solving effort can greatly improve the reliability of the rocket.

The second is our self-designed return method, which is different from the Falcon rocket's landing method that requires engine ignition flight throughout the flight. Our first-stage rocket body uses a parachute to decelerate at medium and high altitudes, and only at low altitudes will the engine be turned on to ignite and slow down.

The advantage of this is that on the one hand, it can increase the carrying capacity of the rocket, save more fuel, and use it in the carrying capacity of the rocket.

On the other hand, this way of reducing the working time of the engine can extend the life of the engine and even the first-stage rocket body, increase the number of launches, and further reduce costs.

Finally, in terms of cost, the parachute thrown by the first-stage rocket body can be reused. It only needs to be recycled, cleaned, and then refolded, and it can be refilled.

Moreover, this parachute deceleration method can reduce the working intensity of the rocket engine, prolong the life, and reduce fuel consumption, thereby reducing the launch cost.

Of course, this also has the advantage that the manufacturing difficulty and manufacturing cost of our engines are further reduced, and they are not as demanding as the Falcon. ”